Ink printing device for use in drum type line printers

ABSTRACT

An ink printing device for use in drum type line printers comprising a band-shaped sheet having equidistant perforated lines and adapted to be severed into labels, tags or stickers, a type drum formed with a desired number of types contained in a plurality of individual bands of type arranged circumferentially about the type drum, a plurality of print hammers arranged directly below the type drum and adapted to selectively impact the sheet upon the selected type, a plurality of annular grooves each formed circumferentially about the type drum and located between the type bands, and a plurality of separating plates which are equal in number to the annular grooves and connected in common at their front and rear ends to form an integral body secured to a machine frame and in which each separating plate fits in each annular groove and has a height which is sufficient enough to slightly project its lower end downwardly from the surface of the type drum. When the sheet is impacted against the type of the type drum by means of the print hammer, the sheet is projected into a space formed between two adjacent separating plates, and as a result, the adjacent types are prevented from being printed on the sheet to provide a clear and beautiful print.

United States Patent 1191 Tsujl Apr. 23, 1974 INK PRINTING DEVICE FOR USE IN DRUM {57] ABSTRACT TYPE LINE PRINTERS [75] Inventor: Akio Tsuji, Funabashi, Japan An ink printing device for use in drum type line printers comprising a band-shaped sheet having equidistant [73] Asslgnee' $1 PStal Franker perforated lines and adapted to be severed into labels, 0 tags or stickers, a type drum formed with a desired [22] Filed: Nov. 15, 1972 number of types contained in a plurality of individual bands of type arranged circumferentially about the [21] Appl' 306597 type drum, a plurality of print hammers arranged directly below the type drum and adapted to selectively [30] Foreign Application Priority Data impact the sheet upon the selected type, a plurality of Mar. 3, 1972 Japan 47-22530 annular grooves each formed circumferentially about the type drum and located between the type bands, 52 US. Cl. 101/110, 101/93 0 and a plurality of Separating plates which are equal in 51 1m. 01 B41 j 1/24 number to the annular grooves and connected in com 53 w f Search 1 93 93 R, 95 99 mon at their front and rear ends to form an integral 10 mm 1 1 375 2 9 body secured to a machine frame and in which each separating plate fits in each annular groove and has a 5 References cu height which is sufficient enough to slightly project its UNITED STATES PATENTS lower end downwardly from the surface of the type drum. When the sheet is impacted against the type of {121k the yp drum y means of the print hammer the 3 516356 6/1970 Nani 101/269 Sheet is projected into a Space formed between two 3:73l:622 5/1973 Baranoff 101/93 C adjacent separating Plates and as a result the adja' 3,141,403 7/1964 Brown et al. 101 99 cent types are Prevented from being Printed On the 3,255,693 6/1966 Eissfeldt et al 101/93 c sh t t p id a clear an utifu p nt- Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assista n t Examiner-E. M. Coven Attorney, Agent, br ri' r 'in silverman & Cass 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures 'MENTED PR 23 mm 13 05696 SHEET 2 [1F 5 F IGLZA NTEBAPR 23 I974 I3 8 05 696 SHEET 3 OF 5 F IGLZB "ATENTEHAPR 23 I974 805696 SHEET 5 OF 5 INK PRINTING DEVICE FOR USE IN DRUM TYPE LINE PRINTERS This invention relates to an ink printing device for use in drum type line printers adapted for serially recording selected characters of a type front along the print line defined by equidistant perforated lines formed on a band-shaped sheet for severing the sheet into lables, tags, stickers, etc.

In drum type line printers of this kind, a carbon paper or ribbon has, heretofore, been used to serially record selected characters of the type front along the print line of the label, tag, sticker, etc. Such printing device, however, has the disadvantage that in case of recording a large or fat character, mark and figure along the print line of the label, tag, sticker, etc. with the aid of the carbon paper or ribbon, a clear and beautiful print could not be obtained owing to the characteristics of the carbon paper or ribbon and to the insufficient impact force of a printer hammer per unit area of the type.

In order to obviate such disadvantage it has been proposed to use an ink printing device comprising an ink roller. Such ink printing device is capable of obtaining a clear print on that portion of the sheet which is impacted by a print hammer upon the type, but has the disadvantage that those portions of the sheet which are adjacent to the type impacted by the print hammer are simultaneously printed by the adjacent types.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved ink printing device for use in line printers which can obviate the disadvantage encountered by the conventional ink printing devices and is capable of preventing the types adjacent to the type impacted by the print hammer from being imprinted upon the sheet and hence of obtaining clear and beautiful prints.

A feature of the invention is the provision of such an improved ink printing device for use in drum type line printers comprising a band-shaped sheet having equidistant perforated lines and adapted to be severed into lables, tags or stickers, a pair of feed rollers disposed one upon the other with said sheet held-therebetween, said rollers being provided at their peripheral edges with notches associated with each other so as to intermittently feed said sheet, a microswitch arranged in opposition to said lower feed roller and adapted to detect the stationary state of said sheet, a type drum formed with a desired number of types contained in a plurality of individual bands of type arranged circumferentially about said type drum, means having clear and shift discs each associated with a photoelectric element and for registering a selected type of the selected band into print position relative to the print line of said sheet, an ink roller arranged in contact with said type drum so as to effect the ink printing, a plurality of print hammers arranged directly below said type drum and adapted to selectively impact said sheet upon said selected type, an elongate rod-shaped cam having radially extending equidistant teeth and interlocked with said type drum so as to be rotated with a given ratio relative to the rotation of said type drum, a link mechanism having an electromagnet and for intermittently connecting said cam to a selected print hammer, a ratchet feeder for finely adjusting the amount of feed of said sheet to a given length defined by said perforated lines, the iming plates which are equal'in number to said annular grooves and connected in common at their front and 1a and adapted to be severed into labels, tags or provement wherein the said type drum comprises a plurality of annular grooves each formed circumferentially about said type drum and located between said type rear ends to form an integral body secured to a machine frame and in which each separating plate fits in each annular groove and has a height which is sufficient enough to slightly project its lower end downwardly from the surface of the type of said typedrum.

Additional objects of the invention together with the features contributing thereto and the advantages accruing therefrom will be apparent'from the following description when read in conjunction with the drawing, wherein: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drum type line printer provided with one embodiment of the device according to the invention showing the main parts of the mechanism in a schematic form;

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C show front'elevations for explaining the operation of the feed rollers shown in'FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the lower part of the type drum shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing a relative position between the separators and the print hammers; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the structure shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a band-shaped sheethaving equidistant perforated lines stickers. Reference numerals 2 and 3 represent a pair of feed rollers disposed one upon the other with thesheet 1 held therebetween and for intermittently feeding the sheet 1. These rollers 2, 3 are provided at their peripheral edges with notches associated with each other so as to intermittently feed the sheet 1. Numeral 4 shows a type drum for use in drum type line printers. The type drum 4 is formed with a desired number of types 5 contained in a plurality of individual bands 5a of type arranged circumferentially about the type drum 4 and representing any desired various is made integral with a lever which is pivotable about a shaft 1 l and projected upwardly from one end of the lever 10a. The lever 10a is provided at its other free end 10b with a spring 12 for urging the lever 10a and hence the print hammer 10 to its rest position. The end 10b of the lever 10a is brought into engagement with a stepped portion 14a of a link lever 14 whose front end 14b is in engagement with the rear end 16a of a clutch lever 16 which is pivotable about a shaft 15. Above the front end 16b of the clutch lever 16 is arranged an electromagnet 17 which when energized serves to upwardly attract the front end 16b of the clutch lever 16. The link lever 14 is rotatably supported substantially at its center portion by a grooved guide shaft 13 and provided at its rear portion with a pair of grooved guide shafts 18, 19 disposed one upon the other with the link lever 14 held therebetween and adapted to be engaged with the upper and lower faces of the lever 14, respectively, and guide the link lever 14 in a manner such that it can be raised and lowered and moved to and fro. The rear portion of the link lever 14 is always subjected to the tension of a spring so as to be moved downwardly. Provision is made for an elongate rod-shaped cam 21 provided at its periphery with three equidistant teeth each radially extending and adapted to be engaged with the rear end 140 of the link lever 14 when it is moved upwardly. The cam 21 is securedto a shaft 21a which is interlocked with the shaft 6 of the type drum 4 such that the rotation of the cam 21 can be effected in association with the rotation of the type drum 4 with a given ratio. Provision is made for a microswitch 22 arranged in opposition to the lower feed roller3 and adapted to detect the stationary state of the sheet 1.

Reference numeral 23 designates a ratchet feeder for finely adjusting the amount of feed of the sheet 1 intermittently fed by the feed rollers 2, 3 to a given length defined by the two perforated lines la, la. As shown in FIGS. 2A-2C the ratchet feeder 23 is connected to the lower end of an arm 24 pivotally mounted at its upper end and adapted to cause the front end of the ratchet to be engaged with the perforated line la of the sheet I with the aid of a spring. The arm 24 is connected through an adjustable rod 25 and a pin 27 to a bar 26 slidably mounted about the shaft 2a of the feed roller 2. The slidable bar 26 is provided with a roller 28 adapted to be engaged with a cam 29 secured to the shaft 2a.

' In accordance with the invention, the type drum 4 of the drum type line printer is provided with a plurality of annular grooves 30 each arranged circumferentially about the type drum 4 and located between the type bands 50. Below the annular grooves 30 are arranged a plurality of separating plates 31 which are equal in number to the annular grooves 30 and connected in common at their front and rear ends to form an integral body secured to a machine frame (not shown) by means of collars 32 and connecting rods 33 extending therethrough. Each separating plate 31 tits in each annular grooye 30 (FIG. 5) and has a height which'is sufficient enough to project downwardly its lower end slightly beyond the surface of the type 5 of the type drum 4 by 0.3 0.5 mm. Reference numeral 34 designates an ink rollerarranged in contact with the type drum 4 so as to effect the ink printing.

The drum type line printer provided with the above mentioned device according to the invention will operate as follows.

The feed rollers 2, 3 are caused to' be rotated by means of an electrical control device (not shown) which is operated when it receives information to effectprinting. Thus, the sheet I is fed by a given length.

This sheet feeding operation will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. When the rollers 2, 3 are rotated to a position shown in FIG. 2A, the sheet 1 is held between the rollers 2, 3. If the rollers 2, 3 are further rotated in the directions shown by the arrows, the sheet 1 is fed a given length until the sheet 1 arrives at the front edge of the notch of the roller 3. At that time there is a pause in the movement of sheet 1 which causes the microswitch 22 to operate thus relaying information through the electrical control device to the electromagnet 17 shown in FIG. 1, to effect the print operation. The electrical control device causes the electromagnet 17 to be energized to attract the front end 1612 of the clutch lever 16 in a direction shown by arrow A. Thus, the clutch lever 16 is rotated about shaft 15 to push downwardly its rear end 160 as shown by arrow B. The front end 14b of 'the link lever 14 engaged with the rear end 16a of the clutch lever 16 is thus pushed downwardly as shown by an arrow C to rotate the link lever 14 about its grooved guide shaft 13, thereby raising its rear end as shown by an arrow D. If the rear end 140 of the lever 14 is raised, it is brought into engagement with a tooth of the cam 21. Under such condition, if the cam 21 is rotated in a direction'shown by an arrow E, the tooth of the cam 21 causes the lever 14 to suddenly slide over its grooved guide shaft 13 in a direction shown by an arrow F and as a result, the end 1012 of the lever 10a engaged with the stepped portion 14a of the lever 14 is rotated about the shaft 1 1 against the action of the sprin g 12 as shown by an arrow G to suddenly raise the print hammer 10 as shown by an arrow H to impact the sheet 1 against the type 5 of the type drum 4.

In this case, if the separating plates 31 the invention are absent, the sheet 1 comes also in contact with adjacent types 5 to record the desired character together with undesired characters or marks, thereby soiling the print.

This is avoided by the separating plates 31 of the in vention whose lower edges are slightly (on the order of 0.3 0.5 mm) projected downwardly beyond the surface of the types 5. The arrangement is such as separate that type 5 which is impacted by the print hammer 10 from adjacent types 5 and project that portion of the sheet 1 which is impacted against the type 5 by means of the print hammer 10'into a space formed between two adjacent separating plates 31. Thus, there is no risk of the adjacent types 5 being printed on the sheet 1 by the print hammer 10. Moreover, the device of the invention utilizing the ink roller 34 is capable of recording significantly clear prints on the sheet which are far superior to the conventional device utilizing carbon paper or ribbon. Thus, the device of the invention has the advantage that large or fat characters, marks or figures can be printed on the sheet 1 in an extremely clear manner. 7 7

After the character has been printed on the sheet I, the print hammer 10 is returned to its original position by means of the spring 12 and the link lever 14 to its original position by means of the spring 20. When the feed rollers 2, 3 are rotated from the position shown in FIG. 2B to the position shown in FIG. 2C, the cam 29 is brought into engagement with the roller 28 to push forward the roller 28 in the feeding direction of the sheet 1, and as a result, the feeder 23 is forceably moved by a small distance S (FIG. 2C)'by connection through the slidable bar 26, adjustable rod 25 and arm 24, whereby the feeder 23 is brought into engagement with the perforated line 1a to finely adjust the amount of feed of the sheet 1. Thus, the print line on the sheet 1 onto which the next characters are desired to be recorded can finely be aligned with the predetermined print line. One cycle of the operation of the drum type line printer is thus completed.

As described in the foregoing, according to the present invention, an ink drum is utilized for effecting ink printing in the drum type line printers; thereby beautiful prints are obtained, regardless of the overall length of the sheet to be severed into labels, tags, stickers, etc.

Thus, with the device of the invention, the movement of a sheet of any length can be controlled with ease. Moreover, there is no danger of recording any undesired characters, marks, figures, etc. other than those desired to be printed in the device of the invention. Therefore, the invention contributes greatly to the printing industry.

What is claimed is:

1. An ink printing device for use in drum type line printers comprising, a type drum formed with a desired number of types contained in a plurality of individual bands of types arranged circumferentially around said type drum, a plurality of annular grooves formed cir- 6 cumferentially around said type drum, each of said grooves being positioned between said type bands, an ink roller arranged in contact with said type drum, a plurality of print hammers arranged directly below said type drum and for selectively impacting a sheet to be printed upon said types, and a plurality of separating plates arranged between said type drum and said print hammers and fitted in said grooves, each of said separating plates being larger in height than each of said grooves such that the types adjacent to the type impacted by said print hammer are prevented from being imprinted upon said sheet. 

1. An ink printing device for use in drum type line printers comprising, a type drum formed with a desired number of types contained in a plurality of individual bands of types arranged circumferentially around said type drum, a plurality of annular grooves formed circumferentially around said type drum, each of said grooves being positioned between said type bands, an ink roller arranged in contact with said type drum, a plurality of print hammers arranged directly below said type drum and for selectively impacting a sheet to be printed upon said types, and a plurality of separating plates arranged between said type drum and said print hammers and fitted in said grooves, each of said separating plates being larger in height than each of said grooves such that the types adjacent to the type impacted by said print hammer are prevented from being imprinted upon said sheet. 